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E-Commerce · head to head

BigCommerce vs Toast

BigCommerce logo

BigCommerce

E-Commerce

Hosted e-commerce platform that charges no transaction fee and no surcharge for third party gateways

From
$29.95/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Toast logo

Toast

E-Commerce

Cloud POS platform for restaurants and hospitality

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Toast has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: BigCommerce plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.; Toast starter tier lacks advanced features; most capabilities require paid plans above $69/month
  • They diverge on capability: BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Toast covers Point of sale.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which BigCommerce and Toast actually diverge.

Attributes where BigCommerce and Toast differ
AttributeBigCommerceToast
Starting price$29.95/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebWeb, iOS, Android, Tablets, Web browsers
Founded20092011

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (E-Commerce).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in BigCommerce

  • No platform transaction fee
  • Stencil theme framework
  • Multi-storefront
  • Faceted search
  • B2B capabilities
  • Headless support
  • Built-in tax integrations
  • Multi-currency

Only in Toast

  • Point of sale
  • Order management
  • Kitchen display system
  • Employee scheduling
  • Customer management
  • Inventory tracking
  • Analytics & reporting
  • Delivery integration

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

BigCommerce

  • A merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decisionnot Toast
  • A retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back officenot Toast
  • A B2B seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom developmentnot Toast
  • A team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted onenot Toast

Toast

No use cases recorded yet. See the Toast review.

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

BigCommerce

  • Plans are gated on annual online sales, so a strong year pushes you into a higher tier and a higher subscription even though your traffic, catalogue and resource usage are unchanged.
  • There is a documented ceiling on the number of variants a single product can have, which breaks configurable, made-to-measure and heavily optioned catalogues and forces awkward workarounds such as splitting one product into several listings.
  • The application marketplace is much smaller than the largest competitor's, so a specific integration or niche feature is more often a custom build, and custom builds are the line item that quietly exceeds the platform cost.
  • Theme customisation past the visual settings means Stencil, Handlebars templates and a local command line workflow, so changes that look small to a marketing team still require a developer and a deployment.
  • Migrating out moves products and inventory reasonably well and moves the things that matter badly, since customer passwords cannot be exported in usable form, order history rarely transfers intact, and reviews and URL structure have to be rebuilt with a redirect map you must produce yourself or lose the search traffic.

Toast

  • Starter tier lacks advanced features; most capabilities require paid plans above $69/month
  • No free tier for advanced features like employee scheduling, inventory, or loyalty programs
  • Setup and training time required for complex multi-location deployments
  • Payment processing tied to Toast ecosystem; limited flexibility for alternative payment processors
  • Hardware costs can be substantial for full-featured setups with multiple terminals and kitchen displays

Pricing, plan by plan

BigCommerce

$29.95/month
  • Standard$29.95/month
    • Unlimited products
    • 2 staff accounts
    • Basic reports
  • Plus$79.95/month
    • All Standard features
    • Up to 5 staff accounts
    • Advanced reports

Toast

Free
  • Starter KitFree
    • Cloud-based POS
    • Payment processing
    • 1-2 terminals
  • Point of Sale$69/month
    • Custom hardware configurations
    • Advanced reporting
    • Core POS features

Which should you pick?

Choose BigCommerce if

  • You need no platform transaction fee.
  • You also want stencil theme framework.
BigCommerce review

Choose Toast if

  • You need point of sale.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Tablets, Web browsers.
  • You also want order management.
Toast review

Questions people ask

Is BigCommerce or Toast better?
Neither clearly leads. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month and Toast at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, BigCommerce or Toast?
Toast has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $29.95/month for BigCommerce and Free for Toast.
Does BigCommerce or Toast run on more platforms?
BigCommerce runs on Web. Toast runs on Web, iOS, Android, Tablets, Web browsers.
Can I use Toast for free?
Yes. Toast has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. BigCommerce starts at $29.95/month.
What is BigCommerce best used for?
BigCommerce is most often used for a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision, a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office, a b2b seller who needs company accounts and customer-specific price lists without custom development, a team going headless who wants a managed commerce back end rather than a self-hosted one. Of those, a merchant whose volume makes a percentage transaction fee the largest line in the platform decision and a retailer needing several branded storefronts sharing one catalogue and one back office are not what Toast is typically brought in for.
What can BigCommerce do that Toast cannot?
BigCommerce covers No platform transaction fee, Stencil theme framework, Multi-storefront, Faceted search. Toast covers Point of sale, Order management, Kitchen display system, Employee scheduling.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

BigCommerce: Does BigCommerce charge transaction fees?

No, and it does not surcharge third party payment gateways either. Revenue affects the price through plan sales thresholds instead.

Toast: What is the cost of Toast POS?

Toast offers a free Starter Kit tier for one or two terminals with POS and payment processing at no upfront cost, though costs are built into payment processing rates. Paid plans start at $69/month for the Point of Sale plan, with Custom tier available via quote for advanced features.

Source
BigCommerce: What happens when I exceed my plan's sales threshold?

You move to the next plan tier. Model this at your projected growth rate, because the increase is driven by revenue rather than by usage.

Toast: Does Toast include online ordering?

Yes. Toast offers online ordering capabilities where customers can order via QR code while seated (Order & Pay) or through standalone online ordering integrated with the POS for kitchen automation.

Source
BigCommerce: Is the app ecosystem large enough?

It covers the common integrations. For anything niche, assume a development project rather than an install, and price that in before comparing subscriptions.

Toast: Does Toast offer drive-through capabilities?

Yes. In April 2026, Toast launched a drive-thru product supporting voice ordering through integrations, allowing restaurants to automate drive-through workflows.

Source
BigCommerce: How hard is it to leave?

Products export cleanly. Customer passwords, order history, reviews and SEO URLs do not. Build the redirect map before you cut over, not after traffic drops.

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